The Tablet of Destinies
"What a nuisance."
For all his grumbling, Kingu's judgment was swift. Even as he seemed to stare off at nothing, lost in thought, a massive tentacle erupted from his arm and lashed toward Enlil in a sudden strike.
To call it a tentacle was almost misleading — it was closer to a colossal pillar than a whip. And yet it moved with a whip's speed, generating shockwaves as it tore through the air. Wherever its arc passed, floor and space alike ruptured and burst apart. The tentacle came crashing down on Enlil and his soldiers, casually pulverizing palace walls and pillars in its path — but Enlil did not flinch.
Thud.
At those words, Kingu's body stopped as if by a lie made real. His consciousness remained, but he could not so much as twitch — frozen solid, as though ice had claimed every joint.
He did not understand the precise mechanism, only that an unprecedented force had bound his flesh.
…Isn't this cheating?
Kingu complained inwardly, but nothing changed. Once the soldiers nearby confirmed he was completely immobilized, they exhaled in collective relief.
"King of Gods? I'd take it if I could, but that's only a means — not the end."
"Then what is your purpose?"
"Revenge. Revenge against An and all his spawn, who stole everything from our Great Mother."
At the words An and his spawn, Enlil's brow furrowed.
"You dare insult the Father of the Gods?"
"Father of the Gods? Heh!"
"You laugh?"
"That a nobody like An should hold such a title… it's absurd, is all."
"…What?"
Kingu's sneer left Enlil less angry than simply stunned. He had lived no short span of years, yet never once had any being mocked An to his face. Who in all existence would dare revile the Creator of Order?
Whether or not he sensed Enlil's thoughts, Kingu pressed on.
"You are nothing but thieves. Degenerate usurpers who seized the world that Father and Mother built."
"…"
"You've strutted about calling yourselves masters of this world long enough — but your time is finished. What happened today is only the beginning. Sit on that hollow throne and tremble, Enlil. Wait for the end that is coming for you."
"…So you were merely a madman. What a waste of time."
That was the end of it. Like a puppet with its strings cut, Kingu's body went slack and crumpled to the floor. The dying flesh melted like wet clay, then evaporated without a trace — just as the death of any god always did.
"As expected of Lord Enlil."
"That power is truly beyond reason…"
The mere fact that a single spoken word could decide another's life was more than enough to inspire both terror and awe. A king of frail mortals was one thing. But the power to compel absolute obedience from all living things — that alone was the true measure of a King of Gods.
"The matter is settled. The remaining men will clear the area and sort the wounded—"
Wooooooooong—
The captain of the guard was issuing cleanup orders in Enlil's stead when an alarm blared. Someone had forced open the vault.
"What?"
"…There was another intruder."
Enlil clenched his jaw so hard his teeth nearly cracked. He led his soldiers straight to the vault at a run — and found a tiny doll of a figure hauling away the Tablet of Destinies.
Small as it was, the creature bore a face much like the one Enlil had just killed. He understood at once what had happened.
So he could divide his body.
Before confronting Enlil, Kingu must have split off a portion of himself amid the chaos. The fragment was tiny, and the larger body had been thrashing about with those enormous tentacles — no wonder it had gone unnoticed.
"Caught me."
The miniature Kingu said as much, then swallowed the Tablet of Destinies whole.
Enlil tried desperately to stop him, but it was already too late. This time, his Word of Command scattered and dissolved before it could even reach Kingu.
"You fool! With the Tablet of Destinies, your pathetic power means nothing!"
"You are not the master of the Tablet! Know your place, you worm!"
"You're the worm. I am the Tablet's true master. It is the rightful token Mother bestowed upon me — not something for degenerate usurpers like you!!"
Kingu's face twisted with sudden fury, and Enlil flinched despite himself. Anyone would be thrown off when a smirking creature abruptly erupted like that.
"…There's no reasoning with you. Die."
Enlil thrust out his hand. A ferocious gale erupted from his fingertips and blew the entire vault — wall and all — clean off the structure.
KRA-BOOM.
The explosion sent a great many of the surrounding soldiers tumbling to the floor. But Kingu himself was already outside the blast radius. No — it would be more accurate to say the attack had simply missed.
Through the collapsing rubble of the building, Kingu fled at his leisure. As if by miracle, wind and debris alike veered around him. That was the power of the Tablet of Destinies.
Enlil hurled his Word of Command in desperation, but it was useless. Kingu only laughed at him.
"Until next time, king of the usurpers. When we meet again, I'll take that head of yours."
Enlil loosed another blast of wind, to no avail. Had he been quicker on his feet, he might have raised a barrier of wind to cut off the escape, scattered debris in every direction, or kicked up dust to blind his quarry while using continuous gusts to track the position — but unfortunately, Enlil was clumsy in such matters.
It was only natural. With the overwhelming power of his Word of Command, he had resolved nearly every problem that ever came his way. Genuine combat experience could be counted on one hand.
And so, that day, Enlil watched with open eyes as the Tablet of Destinies was stolen from under him.
"Another summons? Things had finally quieted down lately."
Inanna kept grumbling the entire way as their sky-boat carried them toward the palace of the King of Gods. Beside her, as always, Sunya wore a faintly awkward smile.
The authority and power of the King of Gods were not absolute in the way a mortal king's might be — yet the King of Gods did hold the right to forcibly convene every deity.
"Where are we going, Papa?"
The little girl holding Inanna's hand looked up at Sunya. Her name was Gula — one of the children born between Sunya and Inanna.
"We're going to the palace of the King of Gods."
"Why?"
"Because the King of Gods has summoned us. He has the authority to gather all the gods — though he cannot use it freely whenever he likes."
"Then why is Mama so mad?"
"I'm not mad. I'm just in a foul mood, that's all."
Inanna answered.
"Why?"
"I've never liked that old man Enlil."
"But he's Mama's father's father, isn't he?"
Gula was more curious than any of the other children. Even the most beloved daughter could become tiresome with too many questions — yet both Sunya and Inanna always answered Gula's inquiries without hesitation. Of all their children, Gula was the most endearing, and she was thoroughly spoiled by everyone around her.
"You're still young, Gula, so you may not understand — but being family doesn't mean everyone gets along. Some relations are worse than strangers."
Inanna had never cared for Enlil. She had once dismissed him as little more than a stuffy old man, but once she realized he quietly disliked Sunya, she began avoiding Enlil in turn. Sunya himself paid the matter no mind whatsoever.
"It better not be something trivial. I'll tear every last hair right off his—"
She stopped short, mindful of her young daughter listening.
"Oh — you said all the gods are gathering at the King of Gods' palace this time, right? Does that mean I get to see my big sisters and brothers again?"
"Most likely."
"Yay!"
Delighted at the prospect of reuniting with her siblings after so long, Gula bounced up and down like a little rabbit. Between Sunya and Inanna, more than twenty children had already been born, and all of them save Gula had grown enough to strike out on their own. Among the gods, producing so many offspring in so short a span was utterly unprecedented.
"We should be arriving shortly."
When they reached their destination and stepped down from the sky-boat, the family was soon taken aback. The vast palace of the King of Gods stood half-destroyed.
"What happened here? Did someone break in?"
"Not just a thief — more like a full-blown raider, by the look of it."
Sunya cracked his eyes open a fraction and surveyed the surroundings. Even without using his Eyes, it was not difficult to deduce that a battle had taken place here. And then there were the bloodstains faintly visible on the floors and walls. Sunya's instincts told him this had been less a fierce fight than a one-sided slaughter.
"Perhaps something more troublesome than we expected has occurred."
"What do you mean?"
"If he's summoning the gods here without even repairing the ruined palace, the matter must be urgent enough to warrant it."
Father, mother, and daughter stepped into the palace of the King of Gods.